


The Dragon

by orphan_account



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ba Sing Se, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Denial of Feelings, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Feelings, Friends to Lovers, I have a problem with lee, Internalized Homophobia, Like, M/M, Secret Lovers, Secret Relationship, Starcrossed Lovers, Tea Shop Zuko, Tea shop AU, The Jasmine Dragon, Toxic Masculinity, Undercover, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, a real problem, hes cute, star crossed lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25003579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: He knew that face. That was the face that had been trying to kill him for years. In a tea shop. Selling tea.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 375





	1. Coinage

“What’s the point of having money in the city if we can’t spend it?”

Sokka had been complaining about wanting a hot drink for days. After Toph had given her some of her scammed coins, he just… wanted to spend it. For no reason in particular, it seemed, just to do it. Fiscally irresponsible as he was, Katara was tired about arguing about it. “If I let you go get something, will you shut up about it?” She asked, something between a question and an exasperated groan. And when he nodded quickly, she just threw her hands up in defeat. “Fine, then. Just don’t get in trouble and meet up before dark, or we’re leaving you.”

Sokka flapped, then pumping his fist in the air. His excitement made her roll her eyes—she sometimes wondered which one of them was _actually _the older sibling. She certainly acted more like it, but her maturity was probably just a result of trauma. Sokka ran off, mostly to just look, but he would buy something if he wanted to. No one could stop him now, he would do as he pleased. The first vendor to catch his eye was a leather working shop. He had a particularly strong respect from leather workers, as he worked quite often to tan and work sealskin. And really, the work he saw here was lovely. Nicely colored, well stretched, and nicely cut. He ultimately grabbed a small bag he’d be able to hook onto his belt.__

It sure cost a pretty penny, but he didn’t really feel bad spending. He didn’t have to work for it, so he really didn’t lose anything. Just some free stuff, as far as he was concerned. He tossed the rest of his coins into the sack after securing it to his hip, patting it some. If for nothing, it was to feel the coins jingle and move around. He stretched his arms over his head, looking back to the vendor. “Do you know a good place to get a warm drink?” He asked.

“There’s a little shop called ‘The Jasmine Dragon’ around the block to the left,” the man hummed, placing his own money in a bag. “They serve tea and pastries, pretty cheap. The old guy’s a real nut, though.”

“Thanks,” he hummed, giving a single nod. “I’ll come by again, if I’m here for much longer. This stuff is nice.” The other gave him a thankful nod, watching as he left towards the tea shop.

Sokka hummed quietly as he walked, looking around to admire the city as he did. They never had that much time to admire scenery, always on the run or something. But, he really did enjoy looking at architecture.

After making a left, he spotted the tea shop he’d been pointed to. “Awesome,” he hummed to himself, rubbing his hands together. The smell was actually lovely. Sokka had never been much of a tea person, but when made right, it was lovely. He pushed the door open, enjoying the little tinkle of the bell. The atmosphere was nice, all low flame lights and soft speaking. He looked around, looking at the case of pastries, along with several jars of different teas. His eyes then fell on the teen in the corner, back to him, serving a young woman.

She seemed totally engrossed in what he could only assume to be a flirtatious conversation. At least. That’s what her body language said. The boy was rather stiff, just doing his job. He leaned against an empty table, waiting for the boy to get a moment for his order. He watched him rub his arm, trying to get away from the girl. It was rather endearing, he thought. He took his time waiting to look at the menu. The prices were actually pretty low, or what he understood to be low, for the city. Two kai yuan tong bao for a cup of tea, one for a pastry. Not bad. He opened his bag to retrieve three coins, but he snapped his attention back up when he heard a mug shatter.

He first looked at the cracked pieces of the ceramic, then to where they came from. A familiar—familiar ish—face. Scarred, cold, but now? Scared. Prince Zuko, standing not three meters away, looking terrified.

He reached back to grab his machete off of his back, but as Zuko squatted down to grab the pieces of the mug, he held a hand up, mumbling the word, ‘wait.’ He carefully picked up the fragments, holding them in his apron. He disappeared to the back, tossing away the mess. He returned with a cloth rag, sopping up the tea. He looked up to the girl, seeming to offer a genuine smile. “I’m sorry, Jin, I’ll get you a new cup.”

He looked to Sokka, the smile on his lips dropping. He waved him over, beginning back to what Sokka could only assume to be the kitchen. He had been frozen there for a moment, but followed once indicated to do so. He had pulled his weapon out now, ready to defend himself.

Upon rounding the corner, he found a hand clapped over his mouth. He reflexively swung his weapon, which Zuko raised his hand to stop. The blade dug into his hand, which only elicited a weak cry. “You need to sharpen that thing,” he choked out, pulling away from him entirely. His hand was covered in blood when he pulled it away, running down his arm and staining his sleeve. He moved to a pantry, grabbing a bottle of rice wine. He squatted down, pouring it over the fresh would, then using a fresh cloth rag to wrap it up tightly.

“What are you doing here?” He rasped, wiping off the blood and returning to the kettle and oven. He filled it with water, then tea leaves, placing it over the coals. To Sokka’s confusion, Zuko grabbed a match, and lit it on the counter. He tossed it in, letting the fuel light. He tossed what remained of the rag over to wipe off his blade.

He caught it, slowly cleaning off the prince’s blood. “ _I’m _here to get tea. What the hell are you doing here?”__

“I’m serving tea,” he answered plainly, leaning against the counter. “And getting stabbed, apparently.”

“I’m sorry, I panic when I see that _prince fucking Zuko— _”__

“ _Shh. _” he looked outside quickly, raising a finger to his lips. “My name is Lee here. If you get me killed, I will literally never forgive you,” he hissed.__

“Why are you undercover? Planning to ambush us?” Sokka spat.

“I’m undercover because I was banished, you nut. I’m just trying to keep alive,” he rushed, clearly a little freaked out. His tone softened, though. “Please. Don’t make a scene. We can’t afford to come under the Dai Li, not now.”

Sokka slowly sheathed his machete. He was so different when he wasn’t charging at them to murder them, he noticed. Letting him injure him, especially, was enough to get him to agree.

“Nephew—” a voice Sokka didn’t think he had ever heard, along with some heavy footsteps entering the kitchen. “Oh. Am I interrupting something?”

“No, Uncle,” Zuko hummed, the politeness in his voice almost shocking. The man—Zuko’s uncle, apparently (now that he looked at him, he thought they had met a few times)—nodded, but spotted the blood soaking through Zuko’s bandages.

“Lee,” he began, gently taking his hand. “What did you do?”

“I dropped a mug,” he answered, truthfully. But then, the lie: “I cut my palm on the glass.” Sokka opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. “I’ll be fine.”

“You need to be more careful, nephew. Would you like to take a break until the bleeding stops?”

“I’m okay. You can’t bus tables all by yourself,” he replied calmly. He pulled the kettle off the fire, pouring it into a new mug. He turned to Sokka, placing it on a tray. “Now, you came in for some tea?”


	2. Tremors Under the Mask

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, do you guys like these shorter, but more frequent chapters, or would you prefer longer chapters with longer gaps? I've never been good at endurance writing, and it's something I'd like to get better at, but I also wanna do what the people want lol

Sokka had always assumed the entire royal family would have extravagant rooms that stoked their ego. And, while he couldn’t speak for Zuko’s room in the castle, his apartment above the tea shop was… simple. It was made from the same wood of the entire building, only a few pieces of furniture. There was one tatami bed in the corner, well made and tucked tightly. In the other corner, there was a bamboo roll mat, a few blankets and a sad pillow piled atop it. A few different sticks and cones of incense, along with the ashen remains of some, lined the windowsill, the other areas decorated with lilies and peonies. Below the window, seemed to be a shrine of some sort. Something he recognized from Aang’s worship. Candles, offerings, and a small statue.

And in the center of the room, sat on two cushions, sat the prince himself, and the heir of chiefhood to the southern water tribe. Between them, a teapot and two cups sat brewing. Zuko was calm and collected, pouring the two cups to sip at. His eyes were closed as he drank, the calmness of his entire demeanor seeming alarming to the other. From Sokka’s perspective, he was sitting across from a murderer, and he was calmly taming him. Zuko had offered to answer any questions in the privacy of the apartment. Sokka had been thinking about what to ask, staying quiet thus far.

“Are you going to keep chasing us?” He finally asked.

“No,” Zuko replied simply. “I’m happy here,” he admitted. “I make friends, I can spend time with my uncle. No one knows who I am, no one wants to kill me. No father to scorn me, no sister to assassinate me. Just tea.” Another sip. “I can’t bend here, that’s the only downside.”

“You still want to destroy things.”

“No,” he shook his head, not rousing at all. “Fire isn’t all about destruction… I’ve learned that ever since I’ve had to keep it away. It gives us a way to expel excess energy, to funnel focus.” He looked aside, waving his hand over his good eye. “My attention has been fuzzy these days, I’ve noticed. But I think it will pass, as uncle is the most focused person I’ve ever met. He’s a master of controlling his element, it’s all that I can do to try and follow in his path.”

Sokka took that in slowly. He didn’t trust what was rolling off of Zuko’s tongue. It seemed like lies, even if they made sense. He merely hummed, finally taking a sip of his beverage. His eyes widened some. He really wasn’t much with tea, but _Lui and Ta. _this was good. Honestly, he never understood notes so often complimented in tea, but he could indeed taste the layers. “This is good,” he murmured absentmindedly.__

“Uncle makes the best tea,” Zuko hummed, a gentle smile curling on his lips. “I really can’t make it like him. I do my best, but it’s never quite the same. In the fire nation, he would hear it with his own flames, and it changed the flavor. I don’t know how. I do my best, though.” It drew a small grin to Sokka. He knew the genuine admiration that was plaguing Zuko’s voice, he knew it from speaking of his own father.

He observed the prince carefully now. He’d never had the chance to see him like this. Calm, friendly, not-in-a-murderous-kidnapping-honor-fueled-rage. But it still wasn’t perfect. He was shaking, tremors constantly shaking his hands, and by proxy the cup and its contents. In addition, he noticed the left side of his face twitching every once in a while. He blinked more there, and the corner of his mouth would curve up quickly every few moments.

He poured himself another cup of tea, sighing softly as he breathed in the steam. Sokka stopped to think for a moment, considering that _if _this was all true, Zuko wasn’t that bad. But it couldn’t be. This was the fire prince, he was talking with. A tyrant. The man who had been trying to kill him. This wasn’t real, and he knew it. Even while staring at his bandaged hand, his relaxed posture, he didn’t trust the fucker.__

“So…” he began, rubbing the ball of his foot into the ground. “Are you like, _banished _banished? You can never go back? Ever?”__

“You know, I always regarded you as a smart guy. What the fuck do you mean, banished banished? Banished is banished. Done-zo. Can’t go home, cause it isn’t my home anymore. I’m pretty sure they’d kill me if I tried.” Zuko took a breath to calm himself down. He seemed to have been an angry person since leaving home, and honestly really had to watch himself. He posed a higher risk of exploding, exposing himself as a Fire Bender, when his temper got out of control. He shook his head. “No, I’m never going back.”

Sokka would consider it sad, if he cared enough.

“Now,” the prince hummed, rising to his feet. “I'm going to let you go without an issue. However, if the avatar or the Dai Li show up at my door, if my Uncle is put in danger due to your actions, I will show you no mercy while roasting you alive.” He pat the other’s back as if he didn't just make the single most disturbing threat Sokka had ever heard. The two rose, wordlessly heading back down to the shop. Iroh was at the base of the stairs, giving Zuko a hug before he returned to work.

The man then turned to Sokka, a jovial, hospitable smile on his face. “May I interest you in a pastry for the road? On the house.”

“You sure you're related to him?” Sokka asked, suspicion dripping from his voice.

“Of course, why doubt?” Iroh hummed, taking a blueberry tart from the case.

“Whole family is psycho,” he sighed. “I mean— wait,”

“Oh, no,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “They are. It seems my wife kept myself and my son from the psychosis. A relative lack of power helps, too. I only hope it will rub off on my nephew, one of these days.”

“...I think it has,” Sokka remarked softly, taking the pastry with a nod. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Iroh hummed, bowing in return. “Tell that blind girl, Mushi says hello.”


	3. Similarly Nudged Explicatives

“Mushi says _Hi _,” Sokka offered weakly as he returned to camp. Toph perked up when she heard this, sitting up and returning the soles of her feet flat to the earth.__

“Mushi?” she hummed, resting her arms behind her head. “Crazy tea guy?” she asked, tilting her head so it appeared as though she was looking at him.

“Yep,” he popped the _p _, sitting down beside the girl.__

“Dude,” she chuckled, tapping her feet. “I really thought he was kookoo. But those proverbs, man, they really got to me at some point,” she hummed, patting Sokka’s stomach a _wee _bit too hard. “Anyways, what’s got your panties in a knot?” She asked nonchalantly.__

“I—La, how old are you? You shouldn't be talking like that,” Sokka sputtered, looking over at her incredulously.

“Dude, I fight in underground rings. I say what I want. Answer the question,” she demanded.

“No— nothing. Nothing is wrong. I'm fine. All good.”

“I know when you're lying. Your heart is like a jackhammer right now. What happened? Meet a pretty girl?” Sokka only scoffed in response. “Pretty boy?” From the strangled sound he made, she knew she hit the nail on the head. She grinned, closing her eyes. “Pretty boy,” she repeated. “So tell me what he looks like, since I'll never fuckin’ see him.” He wasn't sure if that was a blind joke or a riff on Sokka.

“I didn't meet a pretty— shut up!” He spat. He wouldn't be nearly so offended by the notion if it didn't hit so close to home. He did _not _want to even think about how ridiculously attractive Zuko was when he wasn't trying to kill him. Or maybe it was just, in general, he had hair now, and it was hot. Ha. Hot. Fuck. He shook his head, as if he could shake off the thoughts themselves, little parasites they were. He wasn't supposed to even be that close to the enemy, let alone be there long enough to notice things like that. But he had been. And he did. And now that Toph pointed it out…__

Shit.

She was totally right, is what he realized. And now he was going to be thinking about it all day. He sighed a bit, rubbing his face. There were so many things wrong with this. Thinking the enemy was hot? Not terribly bad, he guessed. But he recognized this type of _oh shit _moment from meeting Yue and Suki for the first time. And that was not normal. Enemy or not, this was a dude, he was talking about.__

And _that _was what scared him more than his position, than his political standing, than the fact he'd try to kill him. It was more terrifying than all three of those combined. Toph barely laughed, making Sokka prickle in annoyance. He groaned, finally pushing himself up to just go back to his own space. He didn’t know what would be worse, being with Toph and her teasing, or alone with his own thoughts. He’d figure it out soon enough, he supposed. He made his way out from everyone, assuming that Aang and his sister were practicing. Well, he hoped. He didn’t think he would be able to handle any more human conversation right now.__

He wondered if the disgraced prince was faring any better. Likely, his biggest worry right now was just that his cover could be blown. Although, he'd seemed awfully calm about everything. Awfully calm about having a damn machete buried in his palm. He only saw that composure crack when he got agitated. He was surprised the prince didn't ignite, what with his threats and all that built up energy.

But honestly, he wasn't faring any better… at all. Zuko may have been able to hide a barrage of panic from the water tribe boy, but his uncle saw right through him. A variety of different stressors were stabbing at him, sharp and palpable. Because, while he had known the avatar was in the vicinity before, now he knew that he was close. And that brought up a myriad of thoughts: should he reignite his search for the boy? Should he lay extra low for a while? After all, it would only take a surprised relay of his name to get him killed, or worse, put at the hands of his sister. Then there was the, admittedly, rather pleasant conversation he'd had with Sokka.

Now, Zuko had never paid much attention to the people of either water tribes. He didn't have time to, what with meeting under… well, we’ll say, rather unfortunate circumstances. But to sit down across from one, speak and have tea, he… noticed. Things. Like how impossibly blue Sokka’s eyes were (he didn't even know eyes could be blue in the first place), and how striking they were when put against his tanned skin. How well taken care of he seemed to be, with a close shave on his head, fitting clothes, and visible proof of being generally healthy. More than Zuko could say for himself, what with his unkempt appearance and two-sizes-too-big work uniform.

And he couldn't help but notice how _fucking perfect _his skin was. Smooth, unscarred, variations color from a healthy amount of time in the sun. Of course, Zuko always had a thing with his own skin, it was pretty hard to ignore the scar that took up half of it. While he’d grown used to the mark in the past three years since it had been inflicted upon him, he wasn't used to the stares from normal looking people. He wasn't used to looking in the mirror. Occasionally, he’d reach up to cover the left side of his face, just to see how he would have grown in if it hadn't been for the marred visage. He could almost stand to call himself attractive when the glaring flaw was covered. Alas, there wasn't a way to keep it covered while he worked, while he existed in general. So, he would just pretend he didn't notice the people who had two working eyes, and how they constantly bore into the left side of his face.__

Thankfully, there was one thing that wasn't terribly troublesome to him throughout this whole thing. He wasn't experiencing the moral dilemma of sexuality that Sokka was wringing himself through. He'd come to terms with the fact that he very much found men attractive years ago, recently redug into his head when he met Jet. And now that he thought about it, as hot as Jet was, his personality always ruined it. But, when he looked at Sokka, he saw every physical trait he'd found particularly good looking about the freedom fighter (and then some), but paired with a so far fairly kind and sunny disposition. He had his suspicions that he'd soon become distasteful, as everyone in his life did (excluding uncle, of course, no matter how many times the old man managed to stamp at his nerves), but for now, he couldn't help but think of Sokka in a positive light.

In another universe, of course. Even if Zuko was willing to hunker down into a relationship right now, certainly wouldn't (couldn't) be with the Avatar’s best friend. Even if he was really, _really _pretty, had a personality he could see himself getting along with, weaponry skills that could make the Kyoshi Warriors jealous….__

Shit.


End file.
